This article investigates the relationship between teachers' personal reading habits and their instructional practices. Teachers responded to a questionnaire that revealed their attitudes toward reading, the amount of time they spent reading per day and the kind of literacy practices that they used in their classrooms. Results indicate: (1) while…

This article reports on investigations into whether students starting secondary school should, among other adjustments, adapt their concepts of literacy. Interviews with 24 11- and 12-year olds are used to explore their perceptions and expectations concerning their literacy and its ongoing development at this pivotal stage. (Contains four…

The reading habits of 49 elderly adults were surveyed, using the SERA inventory, to examine two hypotheses: there is no difference among elderly adults' perceptions of their reading habits as related to factors of reading skill, preference, physical functioning, attention span/concentration, and emotional well-being, and there are no significant…

To help raise the reading scores and attitudes of selected "at-risk" students from Thomas Jefferson, Springfield Gardens, and Franklin D. Roosevelt High Schools in New York City, a pilot study daily provided students with individual copies of the "New York Daily News" and integrated the use of the paper into regular…

In his ethnographic study of junior high school literacy activities, David Bloome found support for four theoretical constructs of the student-text interaction: (1) education is a process of cultural transmission; (2) reading is defined in terms of the sociocultural context in which it occurs; (3) the interpretation of behavior and of signs occurs…

The purpose of the study was to examine how reader response journals followed by classroom discussion ("Reader Response Plus") contributed to students' reading comprehension and to their attitudes toward reading. The study was conducted in a rural school in upstate New York. The twelfth grade class that participated in the study…

A study investigated the attitudes normal and disabled readers have toward reading to determine if differences existed between the two groups. Subjects, 40 normal readers and 40 students from remedial classes in grades 3 through 6, each completed the Estes Attitude scale. The results indicated a significant difference in attitudes toward reading…

To identify and make available reading-related Bible references for reading teachers, a computerized text of the 1611 King James Bible was generated, using reading-related terms extracted from Bible concordances and student papers. Such words as "read," book,""word,""study," and "language" generated about 4,800 references. Thirteen annotated…

A study examined whether environmental logos could be used as tools for beginning reading instruction. Logos are bold, colorfully adorned symbols featuring printed words in design formats that appear on products and advertisng signs. Subjects were 20 preschool children, half of whom were three and one-half years old, and the rest four and one-half…

Reports on a survey of the leisure reading of 700 teenagers in rural North Carolina which collected data on reading for pleasure, types of materials selected, favorite authors and books, differences in interests of boys and girls, reasons for reading, and how respondents find out about books. Implications for teachers and library media specialists…

Reports on a study of preferred reading instruction approaches among 121 British reading teachers. Finds that most do not use a single approach, but a blend of approaches determined by individual differences. Maintains that most perceive their role as encouraging students to enjoy reading. (CFR)

A study investigated how literature-based reading/language arts materials were being used in two "exemplary" third/fourth grade combination classes, the influence of teacher epistemology on classroom instruction, and whether teachers were enacting the whole language emphasis mandated by the state. One of the two participating teachers…

In 1988, a study was conducted to determine whether a holistic or an isolated skills approach is more effective in improving the reading abilities and attitudes toward reading of predominantly Hispanic community college students. The study sample consisted of two groups of developmental reading students. The majority of students in both groups…

Case study research of adult lifelong readers' key experiences reveals that some of the crucial events resulting in love of reading took place prior to formal literature instruction. Results of interviews with about 60 adult readers of all ages--some of whom choose to read fiction, some of whom do not--indicate reasons readers give for their…

This booklet presents a collection of seven practitioner research reports conducted by individuals employed through adult basic education (ABE), Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED), and English as a second language (ESL) programs and funded by the Iowa State Staff Development Committee. The practitioner research presented in the collection gives…